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Last night’s drama-fuelled episode of Survivor: Blood vs. Water went a long way in justifying this season’s major twist as a pair of loved ones battled each other for an opportunity to remain in the game, while another pair debated severing ties in the hopes of making it further.

So, without further ado, let’s get right into the action:

The Return from Tribal Council

After watching her mother, Tina, become the latest castaway to be voted out by Tyson’s seven-man alliance, a defeated Katie made no effort to conceal just how hopeless of a position she was in.

“The seven of them (Monica, Tyson, Gervase, Caleb, Hayden, Laura M. and Ciera) are so engrossed in their own alliance,” she notes. “They are not budging.”

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Meanwhile, as Katie tries to figure out how to make the most of a dire situation, Ciera comes to the realization that her mother, Laura M, is increasingly becoming more of a liability than an asset.

More than halfway through the season, the 24-year-old seems poised to make it to the end as she displayed something that no other player this season has demonstrated — the ability to vote off her own loved one.

“I love her and I want to go as far as I can with my mom but . . . if my mom needs to go in order for me to win the game, she needs to go because I have a better shot at winning than she does,” Ciera says.

Redemption Island Duel

After last week’s hiatus, the Redemption Island duel was back in full swing as Aras, Vytas and Tina entered the arena with the hopes of battling their way back.

Going into this week’s duel, I was curious to see what type of challenge the three castaways would be presented with as a physical challenge would have all but ensured Tina’s elimination. Luckily for the former Survivor: Australian Outback winner, this week’s duel had each player retrieve a bag of balls with a grappling hook which they would then use to navigate through a table maze filled with holes.

Tina made it apparent that she was still a force to be reckoned as she retrieved all three of her bags before either of the men. However, despite making it to the table maze first, Vytas and Aras eventually caught up to Tina, who lost her monumental lead after her ball fell through one of the holes near the end of the maze. In the end, Vytas capitalized on Tina’s mishap and went on to win the duel while Tina still managed to complete the puzzle ahead of Aras despite having to restart.

Following Aras’ loss, Jeff Probst did his best Dr. Phil impression on as he asked the siblings how this experience has brought them closer together and, in turn, helped strengthen their strained relationship. While no tears were shed during this send-off, both brothers agreed that while their relationship still isn’t perfect, Survivor has definitely helped strengthen their bond.

After a solemn goodbye, Vytas elected to give the clue to the hidden immunity idol to Katie who, for the first time all season, decided to keep it instead of throwing it into the fire. Finally, someone who has some common sense — too bad Tyson had already found it ages ago (without a clue no less).

Kasama

Upon returning from the duel, Katie immediately set off into the forest to find the hidden immunity idol, which proved to be anticlimactic, as we knew that Tyson had it. While it was funny to see the tribe hide all the sharp objects in an attempt to slow down Katie’s search, Tyson approached Gervase, Hayden and Caleb and asked them to help him blindside Laura M. at the next tribal council. By doing this, the former Survivor: Tocantins player hoped to get rid of a viable threat while securing Ciera’s loyalty.

Knowing that she and her mother were the last remaining pair of relatives, Ciera decided to pull Laura M. aside and essentially tell her that if push came to shove, that she’d vote her out.

The biggest shock of all came when Laura M. accepted her fate after Ciera blatantly explained to her that she didn’t stand a chance at winning the final tribal council.

Meanwhile, as the mother-daughter duo were in the midst of their heart-to-heart, Tyson went to Caleb, Hayden and Gervase to tell them to vote off Laura M. at the next tribal council.

Immunity challenge

Like last week’s immunity challenge, this week’s challenge once again tested each competitor’s endurance as each player was tasked with standing on a slanted platform over a pool of water with only a rope to hang on to. After every five minutes, each competitor had to move their hands down the rope which in turn forced them to support more of their body weight. The last player that was able to hang on to the rope would not only win individual immunity, but also a hamburger and hotdog buffet.

Unlike most endurance challenges, this one didn’t last very long as Monica managed to outlast both Tyson and Laura M. en route to her second ever individual immunity win. In a moment of motherly euphoria, Monica asked Jeff if she could forgo her well-deserved hamburger buffet and give it to the rest of tribe. While I fully believe that this gesture was entirely genuine, a small part of me believes that the ever-paranoid Monica did it to help solidify her position within her alliance.

Tribal Council

In a last-ditch effort to save her mother from being voted out, Ciera tried to convince the men to vote off Katie by assuring them she hadn’t found the hidden immunity idol. In a scene that solidified her place as a massive threat going forward, Ciera got Katie to admit to not having found the idol by telling her that she couldn’t have found it because she (Ciera) had already dug it up.

The men pretended to go along with Ciera but Tyson realized that it was a mistake to tell her about the plan in the first place and reinforced the fact that they still needed to vote out Laura M.

At Tribal Council, Laura M. told her alliance that they shouldn’t vote her out because if she did become a member of the jury, she’d help muster votes for Ciera to win. What Laura M. failed to realize was that by saying this, she all but ensured Ciera woud be voted off soon.

In the end, the entire tribe elected to stick with Tyson’s plan as Laura M. became the newest member of the rapidly expanding Survivor: Blood vs. Water jury.

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